The medical profession is not in agreement about how to

Question

The medical profession is not in agreement about how to treat snakebites; physicians are  unsure about how much antiserum to use, and there is controversy over  the relative merits of surgery and antivenins.

(A) unsure about how much antiserum to use, and there is controversy over
(B) not sure how much antiserum they should use and have a controversy about
(C) unsure how much antiserum they should use, and they have controversy about
(D) not sure as to how much antiserum they should be using, and there is a controversy over
(E) unsure about how much antiserum should be used, and they have a controversy as to what is

Should "sure" or "unsure" be used with "about" ?

I googled this Q, and some people say that "sure" or "unsure" has to have "about" like A.
But I saw examples that did not use "about" with "sure". 
Ex) Ask me if you're not sure how to do it. I am not sure whether I should tell you this.

The rule that "sure" has to have "about" is right? I doubt it.

daagh · Accepted Answer

Do not even touch the issue of sure about, sure over or sure as to, etc. The dilemma between sure and unsure is still murkier. Let's avoid them. Now, look at the end part. We are aware 'a controversy' is not correct in the context, because it is not one single controversy but several controversies put together under the collective name controversy.

We say: Education in some countries is expensive; we do not say 'an education' in some countries is expensive.
We say: Neurological treatment is cumbersome and tricky; we do not say a neurological treatment is cumbersome.

On this count alone, we can safely remove B, D, and E. Now between B and C: One may see that the pronoun 'they' in C refers to the physicians wrongly. The medical profession is dealing with the controversy and not the physicians. Therefore, C is gone. One can now quietly settle with choice A.

CrackverbalGMAT · Answer

The medical profession is not in agreement about how to treat 
snakebites; physicians are  unsure about how much antiserum 
to use, and there is controversy over  the relative merits of surgery and antivenins.

"how much antiserum to use" is used as one entity. 
Also, "unsure  about " is parallel to "controversy  over " - Hence the parallelism requires "about"

A) unsure about how much antiserum to use, and there is controversy over

It's a very clear construction.

Structure:
 Physicians are unsure about X and there is controversy over Y 
X= how much antiserum to use
Y= the relative merits of surgery and antivenins.

B) not sure how much antiserum  they should  use and have a controversy  about 
This construction may imply that physicians are unsure about two things
1- use of antiserum
2- have a controversy about

Pronoun "they" is redundant.
Compare- I'm not sure about how much oil to use. / I'm not sure about how much oil I should use. The latter version is unnecessarily wordy.

On GMAT "should" is tested in regard to subjunctives. It can also be used to show an obligations. However the context here only points to the right quantity to be use.

Also, "controversy about" is unidiomatic. Correct idiom is - "controversy over"

C) unsure how much antiserum  they should  use, and they have  controversy about

D) not sure as to how much antiserum  they should  be using, and there is a controversy over

E) unsure about how much antiserum  should  be used, and they have a  controversy as to what is

Hope this helps!
Dolly Sharma
Verbal Trainer
CrackVerbal

crick20002002 · Answer

+1 for A.

When your construction is  ... not sure about "something"   and that something is plain, vanila statement then you need "about" as preposition. However if something is in form of a question or an ability (how to do something) then sure  can  omit the  .

You have to also look at "  have a controversy about". This is incorrect usage. You do not have controversy about something; "there is a controversy about something".

Crick

mourinhogmat1 · Answer

unsure is better than not sure. 
to have a controversy about??? Doesn't make sense. 
This should rule out B, C, and E. 
Not sure as to is just wrong and wordy construction.

Answer is surely A.

Are you sure about your answer? --> I believe this is a valid construction.
Are you unsure about your answer? --> I believe this is a valid construction too. 
If you refer to my methodology above we didnt really need sure and about to answer this question correctly. The real reason why about is wrong in this sentence is when you look at it with relation to the word "controversy" and not the word "sure".

aks456 · Answer

My way of approaching question-

-controversy is "over" something.. not "about" something
so down to (A) and (D)
-(A) is more clear and concise

Harsh2111s · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja 
Please explain the parallelism in option A.
How it is correct ?

GMATNinja · Answer

The word "and" can certainly be used in a parallel list. However, "and" can also simply be used as a conjunction (with a comma) to connect two independent clauses. And that's exactly what we have here: (1) "Physicians are unsure about how much antiserum to use." - This part could certainly be its own sentence. (2) "There is controversy over the relative merits of surgery and antivenins." - So could this part. (1+2) "Physicians are unsure about how much antiserum to use , and there is controversy over the relative merits of surgery and antivenins." - We combine the two independent clauses with comma+conjunction (in this case, ", and"). When "and" is used as a conjunction to link two independent clauses, we don't really need to think about parallelism (aside from the uninteresting fact that both clauses -- by definition -- need to have a subject and a verb). It's okay for the two linked clauses to have different structures. For example: "Tim has a library, and there are many books in that library." - No problem. "Tim has a library, many books, and he reads occasionally." - Here we have an issue. We start off listing parallel nouns -- things that Tim has (library, books). But then we suddenly get an independent clause ("he reads occasionally") that is NOT parallel to those nouns. This is incorrect. The structure in choice (A) is a bit more complicated because of the semicolon usage -- on either side of the semicolon, we have something that could stand alone as its own sentence. The part to the right of the semicolon just so happens to consist of TWO independent clauses, each of which could also stand alone as its own sentence. That makes for one meaty sentence (mmm... meat

), but the structure is perfectly fine!

lchen21 · Answer

GMATNinja

First, I would like to thank you for your SC videos. Those videos helped me fill in the knowledge gaps in grammar rules that I thought I understood. Second, is my interpretation of choices B, C, and E, after the "and" to read as "physicians have a controversy..." as in they possess the event/situation, which would be illogical.

Gknight5603 · Answer

What is there referring to in option A

Posted from my mobile device

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

aish5063 
The idiom "there is X" just means "X exists." "There" isn't modifying or referring back to anything previous.

shanks2020 · Answer

Hi  DmitryFarber

Can you plz. help me understand why Option D is wrong?
Is it because of redundancy of "they" and no other grammatical error?

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

None of the errors in D may appear that grievous, but almost every part of this answer is wrong in some way! However, the third item (verb tense) should stand out as an answer-killer all by itself.

"Not sure" isn't inherently wrong, but it doesn't convey the lack of understanding as clearly as "unsure." If we're not sure about the amount needed, we may have a strong idea (and perhaps no one disagrees), but we're just not 100% positive. If we're unsure, it means we definitely lack clarity, and we may disagree amongst ourselves. Think of other "un" terms, such as unfortunate, unattractive, etc. The "un" form is generally (but not always) more clearly negative.

The idiom "sure as to" doesn't work here. This isn't used much, and should be followed by a noun: "I'm not sure as to the extent of the damage." "Physicians are not sure as to the amount needed."

"Be using" doesn't work. The continuous tense makes it seem that we are talking about someone using antiserum right now, rather than a general principle.

"A controversy" gives the impression of one specific dispute or event, rather than the general state of disagreement implied by "there is controversy." It's not as if the two sides are in the middle of a negotiation.

So . . . other than that, D is great!

DmitryFarberMPrep · Answer

Thankfully, you don't need to think about it to get the question right! The GMAT will often throw in a few splits that don't matter much just to distract us. If we focus on the core grammar and the splits we are more certain about, we can save ourselves a lot of time and trouble!

GMATNinja · Answer

Glad to hear that the videos have been helpful!

And I agree with you: as mentioned in  this post , the physicians don't really  have  or  possess  controversy. Controversy simply exists, so "there is controversy" makes more sense.

ChiranjeevSingh · Answer

Here's the   official explanation   provided by the GMAC for this question:

The first part of this sentence makes a general statement:  The medical profession is not in agreement about how to treat snakebites . The second part supports and explicates that statement in two ways: The first of these is about physicians’ uncertainty (they are  unsure ), and the second is about medical professionals’ disagreement ( there is controversy ). The sentence as originally presented uses two independent clauses in communicating the different nature of these two factors as well as their relationship to the generalization stated at the beginning of the sentence.
 
 Option A:  Correct. This is correct as explained above. This is structured in a way that clearly expresses how the two factors provide evidence of the lack of agreement in the medical profession, and how those two factors differ from each other.

Option B:  The structure makes it unclear how the phrase  and have a controversy about  is supposed to relate to the rest of the sentence. Syntactically, that phrase appears to be within the scope of  are not sure . It would be better to put this in an independent clause with its own subject or at least add a comma after  use . Also, the phrase  have a controversy about  is unidiomatic and a little unclear.

Option C:   They have controversy  is unidiomatic.

Option D:  This wording is awkward and indirect. The words  as to  are unnecessary.

Option E:   They have a controversy  is unidiomatic and a little unclear. The phrase  as to what is  is awkwardly wordy and indirect. The pronoun  what  can be either singular or plural, depending on its context. Here it refers to the merits, so the verb should be plural instead of singular.
 
The correct answer is A.

Please note that I'm not the author of this explanation. I'm just posting it here since I believe it can help the community.

aarkay87 · Answer

Ideal Split:
A: Correct 
B: Meaning changed by saying that physicians have controversy over/about something. On the other hand, as per preceding clause, entire medical profession is not in agreement.
C: same as B 
D: 
> ‘sure as to’ is unidiomatic: ‘not sure about how…’ OR ‘not sure how…’ could be correct
> No need to express a continuing action by ‘should be using’
E: 
> Same as B
> SV agreement ‘What IS the relative merits…’ – verb should be ARE 
> ‘Controversy AS’ is unidiomatic

Learning:
> Be wary of usage of SHOULD: Should is a modal of suggestion, AND on the GMAT, it is used for ‘moral obligation’
> "A controversy" gives the impression of one specific dispute or event, rather than the general state of disagreement implied by "there is controversy."

thangvietnam · Answer

in choice D, there is no reason to use "be doing'. continuous is used when something is happening normally in a short time

ag28 · Answer

DmitryFarber   GMATNinja

Is "controversy over" an idiom?
Is "controversy about" wrong?

VerbalBot · Answer

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The medical profession is not in agreement about how to

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